MLive.com file photoFlint emergency manager Michael Brown speaks to a group of residents gathered at the Flint Public Library in February.

A graphic design expert from Michigan State University says the font size on petitions calling for a referendum of Public Act 4 was correct, according to a report by Lansing station WILX.

The size of the font on the petitions was a key issue in a tied 2-2 vote by the Board of Canvassers, which prevented the controversial emergency manager law from going before voters in November for possible repeal.

State law says the font has to be a size 14, and experts on both sides of the issue argued their cases to members of the board before they deadlocked, with two Republicans saying the font was too small and two Democrats saying it was correct.

The statewide coalition behind the petition circulation, Stand Up for Democracy, appealed the vote to the state Court of Appeals, and a decision is pending. Several members of Stand Up hail from Flint and Genesee County.

MSU Professior Chris Corneal reviewed the petitions and told WILX that the petitions were in compliance with state law:

"'I determined that it was calibri bold set at 14 point,' he says, demonstrating with a measurement tool...

"'Simply measuring the heighth of
the capital letter will not give an accurate point size. It should
include the cap heighth, plus the depth of the descender [the lower part
of, say, a g], plus a little buffer area that is different for
different cap heighths,' he says."